Path to Phoenix 2: Reflections
by Eugena
Summary: Season 3 spoilers, Kara reflects. Kara Leoben.
1. Trust

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica is Property of the SyFy channel. Please R & R.

_A/N: Like in my Battlestar Galactica: Phoenix story, Leoben is Model One and Cavil is Model Two._

**Reflections**

By Eugena

Rated: T

Based on Season 3 spoilers – Kara reflects

Second story in The Path to Phoenix series

**Chapter One: Trust**

Kara felt his hand brush against her shoulder as he set the plate of food in front of her. How different this was from the time she interrogated him. He seemed almost human, like a loving husband setting down a meal for a tired wife. Her tattoo on her arm itched. It was her last reminder that she was already married. She did not know if Sam still lived, but right now, she had to believe that he did.

If she didn't have Sam, right now she'd have Leoben talking sweetly to her. He smelt so human, even somehow found cologne to wear. In their own world, everything was as it should be. A loving husband fixed his wife a meal, and he waited to see how she liked it. The other colonists might kill for this meal. It was not rations, rather a large steak – from where she did not know – and vegetables. She always hated vegetables before the war, but now anything not a MRE was a delicacy.

Leoben leaned over her and began to cut her meat. "You should eat," he said, leaning near her ear. "You need your strength."

"Why not take me back to the prison cell?" she asked.

"That was for your own protection," he said.

"From who? You? You don't seem to eager to hurt me. Why bother cooking all this if you just wanted to kill me?"

"I don't want to hurt you, Kara. Others do. Model three will kill you on sight."

"I thought all Cylons were on the same team."

"Not always. Three is dangerous. She is the one you knew as D'anna Beirs. She'll destroy you, Kara, but I won't let her do it."

Kara looked up into his face, almost forgetting he was not human. "Why tell me this?"

"I have seen the future, Kara. This has all happened before, but this time, you get your chance at happiness. I will give that to you. You sent my soul back to God, and now I have returned for you. I will protect you."

"There is always another agenda," she said bitterly.

"Is there?" he asked.

"What's yours?"

"You will see in time, but I assure you, it is not to hurt you."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because you already do."


	2. All In Good Time

Disclaimers, etc.: see chapter one

**Reflections**

By Eugena

**Chapter Two: All In Good Time**

The next day began nearly the same way. This time the meal was chicken and the vegetables were different. Everything felt the same.

She preferred the chicken. She could eat it with her fingers and Leoben did not have to cut it for her. She kept telling herself that he was a Cylon, but as the minutes passed on, she began to believe the scenario he set up for her. Leoben became the star chef husband who prepared the food for his wife and watched her eat.

"Why don't you join me?" she offered. "I didn't see you eat anything."

"I have already eaten. I have to make sure you eat."

"Why?"

"So you don't hurt yourself, Kara. The cycle of pain can stop. You deserve happiness."

"How are you going to give that to me?"

"You'll see soon."

"Why not show me now?"

"All in good time."


	3. Safe

Disclaimers, etc.: see chapter one

**Reflections**

By Eugena

**Chapter Three: Safe**

The next day she asked him, "Have you seen Three destroy me?"

"I have seen her try. She doesn't."

"Why destroy me? Does she hate humans or is it something about me?"

"You were given an honor she thought was hers."

"What are you talking about?"

Leoben reached across the table and took her hand. She felt drawn to him and did not pull away.

"There are twelve models, Kara. Each model accountable to the ones before it."

"Which are you?"

"I am Leoben. I will always be Leoben. Two models came before Three, and she knows that unless the rest of the models side with her, she can't oppose us."

"You're their leader then, the first model or the second."

"I am Leoben. I will always be Leoben to you. Now that you know, it is time I introduced you to someone. Wait here. Don't leave, there are others outside that will find you."

"Then I'm not that safe."

"The other one is waiting outside. You are safe."

He left Kara to her thoughts, and she noticed how he never referred to himself or the other of the first two Cylons by model number. It occurred to her that maybe they did not have a model number. One was the first model, one the second, but maybe they used names instead of numbers.

No, they were not human. She had to remember that.

**oOo**

Two Cavils watched Leoben leave. He looked briefly to them and they nodded. He understood that Three was not around. Looking a different direction, he could see another Leoben standing guard.

"How is she brother?" the first Cavil asked.

"She is well. She begins to think of me as a human."

"Then all is well," the second Cavil said.

"Our brother waits for you," the first Cavil said.


	4. Let Go

Disclaimers, etc.: see chapter one

**Reflections**

By Eugena

**Chapter Four: Let Go**

Did he dare retrieve the second brother, knowing he would send him to his death?

Kara would still kill him, but this self had to live. He had many plans to lie down. He had seen the future, and there were steps to take.

_The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step._

In the end, he knew his destiny—did he love her enough to let her go?

Together, they would defeat the predestined fate that led to her heartbreak, but only if he could let her go.


End file.
